Yuma's Dueling Trouble
by knacksjo
Summary: Vector has unleashed a plot that he believes will make securing Yuma's Numbers easier, and it involves lowering his positive attitude while dueling and providing Numbers to people Yuma knows all too well. Can Yuma pull through once more, or is it curtains for him?
1. A Devestating Plan

I've been pondering this story in my head for quite some time now, so I've decided to take a chance with it and hope for the best. You could say that this story could take place before the events of my first story 'Yuma's Girl Trouble'. Since this story would be considered AU-ish to the main Zexal series, I apologize in advance if any characters seem too OOC to you, but I'm simply a guy who's a math-master, not a novel master, wanting to get these ideas out of my head. I do not own Zexal, or any of its character's. I hope you enjoy.

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><p>A rainstorm was occurring within the depths of the Barian World. In the throne room where the Barian emperors resided, one figure, namely Dumon, was staring at a series of screens in front of him. One of them showed Shark winning a duel with Shark Drake Veiss against a possessed Art Stanley. Another screen depicted Kite dueling Mizar in a Barian Sphere Field. Particularly, the moment where both duelists had summoned their upgraded forms of their respective Galaxy Eyes, causing the Sphere Field to collapse and force Mizar to cancel the duel before they could proceed any further. The last screen which Dumon had been viewing showed Yuma defeating not only Alito with Utopia Ray, but also Girag with his newly acquired Utopia Ray V that Dumon couldn't help but notice was summoned using a Rank-Up spell card that appeared to be rather identical to Rank-Up Magic – Barian's Force. As if that didn't frustrate him enough, the footage wouldn't show just how Yuma got his hands on what appeared to be his new trump card.<p>

Nevertheless, Dumon did not like what he was seeing and removed the screens from his sight. He then turned to face a beaten Alito and Girag who were now resting within Baria Crystals to regain strength from their defeats.

"The actions by Yuma and his friends are increasing the jeopardy that are world is in," he mused to himself, "Not only have they secured half of the Number cards and put Alito and Girag temporarily out of commission, but Yuma somehow obtained a Barian card which doesn't possess him, thus allowing him to use it against us without worry," Dumon looked out a window to see the rainstorm, "The power of the 100 Number Cards is our only hope. If we cannot secure them, we will not be able to obtain the Numeron Code. If we do not have the Numeron Code, we will not have the power to create a universe where our world can survive. Therefore, something much worse than frequent rainstorms may be in store for us!" he shouted that last part out angrily, then turned around and walked to the center of the throne room where he paced, pondered and worried about how much longer they would have before their world would begin to collapse.

"But how are we going to deal with Yuma when he has the messenger of the Astral World by his side to aid him?" Dumon asked to no one in particular, "He has most of the numbers in his grasp after all which would make it more beneficial to target him, but if he was able to defeat two of us seven Barian emperors, who knows how many of the other emperors his capabilities can match? Even his friend Kite has proven to be a difficult obstacle when he battled Mizar."

"I heard that!" shouted a new voice from the doorway to the throne room. Dumon turned to see Mizar standing there. He had been listening in on most of Dumon's summarization of the Barian World's current state and casually began walking towards Dumon to converse with him, "I must say, Dumon, you have a bit of nerve complimenting humans who should be our enemies when we have other things to worry about, especially the claim that Kite can match me in terms of skill when it is I who should be the master of both Galaxy-Eyes."

"Say what you will, Mizar," said Dumon, "But I just saw a viewing of him managing to destroy your Tachyon Dragon."

"So what?" asked Mizar, "Defeating my monster in its regular form does not prove a thing. I assure you I would have had Kite on his knees if my monsters _true_ form was able to enter the battle."

"But it was for that reason that your attempt to secure the numbers yourself was in vain," Dumon shot back.

"I am aware of that, but I am also certain that you are just as annoyed as I am about the fact that our only means of securing Numbers is by either picking a random human to brainwash or using a little device from our world that still limits our capabilities in the human world," said Mizar, referring to their Barian Sphere Field's.

"Yes…it does trouble me," Dumon admitted.

"So I thought. And just for the record I clearly had Yuma hanging by a thread on my first turn. Maybe if I did not unleash everything I could possibly muster at that time and made sure he could still stand on his own two feet, perhaps I would have been able to carry on with dueling him to the end without having Kite cutting in. Then I could have secured Yuma's Numbers and carry on to Kite with nothing else on my plate.

"I understand what you are saying," Dumon began, "But even if you wanted to do that whole ordeal over in that fashion, we are all out of Barian Sphere Field's right now."

"Then what are we supposed to do now?" questioned Mizar, "Go right back to brainwashing humans and press our luck with them? Girag tried that seven times and failed seven times. And on top of that, Alito targeted Yuma and Yuma alone, even going as far as being the one responsible for one of Girag's many failures as he was the one who defeated Girag's mob of brainwashed students, just to be able to battle Yuma on a level playing field. As for me, you think my power is too great for this situation. So aside from us three, who else could be able to lend us a hand in this matter?"

Dumon lowered his head a little and sighed. He remained silent for a few minutes trying to think of what other options they could possibly try. Although he did not want to admit it, possibly everything Mizar had told him was spot on. They had few options to begin with for securing Numbers, and had little to go on now. Then he thought he would pull an idea out of thin air.

"Well…," Dumon began sarcastically, "I have yet to send Vector to the human world myself, but what could _he_ do that would be out of the ordinary? You know how he is after all."

"Indeed I do," Mizar agreed.

"Did somebody call for me?" a third voice called out. Dumon and Mizar look at each other with "oh great" looks. A new figure leaped through the doorway into the throne room and landed on his feet next to the two Barian emperors who were just having a back and forth conversation, "Guess who," the figure said in a sing song voice.

"Oh, Vector. What a nice surprise," said Mizar as if he did not mean it.

"Why are you sounding so down?" Vector inquired, "I am sure a pleasant greeting would not hurt anyone."

"We have bigger problems right now, Vector," cut in Dumon, "Mizar and I have a reason to feel down right now, so you better have something to say that can cheer us up."

"Oh, I believe I do," Vector replied, getting his comrade's attention, " I was overhearing the little spiel you were having about brainwashing humans being our only hope to survive. Well…I was able to study Yuma from afar and have put together a plot related to brainwashing that could make him less capable in a duel and easier to beat."

"Alright, I'll bite," said Mizar, who was now a little interested, "How would you go about this plot?"

"Well, to start," Vector began, "Yuma, when he was little, appears to have been taught to never give up, even in the face of a crisis, even made a catchphrase revolving around it which he calls 'Feeling the flow.' As long as he remembers that teaching, he will always remain positive, always continue to duel in any predicament, and always succeed, or as he likes to say 'High five the sky.'

"Okay…" said Dumon stretching the word out a little, "But what can _we_ learn from that that can help us?"

"Don't you see?" Vector continued, "If he will remain unstoppable and successful in a duel when he remains in high spirits, we simply need to do something that will make him forget what he was taught and dampen his spirits, causing him to lose his positivity so he has none of it to help him succeed in his duels."

"Even if that was entirely true," Mizar interrupted, "How can we dampen his spirits if to our knowledge, he is upbeat about almost anything?"

"Mizar, my pet dragon," Vector replied, angering Mizar with Dumon holding him back, "Even the most positive people have some weak points. Even you hit one of Yuma's when you dueled him."

"Yes, but he seemed to get back on his feet in no time," Mizar argued, "Do _you_ have a method that could dampen his spirits long enough to secure his Numbers?"

"Indeed I do," admitted Vector, making Dumon and Mizar look a little surprised, "Most people in Heartland City now seem to look up to Yuma quite a lot having become the champion of the WDC and thwarting the plot we created with Faker and Arclight, not to mention Yuma always wanted to become a duel champion. So all we need to do is make a little rumour revolving around it to make some people stop seeing him in the spotlight. These might help out a little," Vector then pulled something out of his sleeve like a magician to reveal three cards with auras radiating from them. Dumon and Mizar noticed them instantly.

"Numbers!" Dumon gasped.

"Where did you get those?" questioned Mizar.

"I happened to come across them by chance," was Vector's answer, "And it just so happens that when given to someone not immune by their effects, they will form maliciousness even in a saint, and they will be hard even for Astral to track. They will be given to the lucky humans who shall duel Yuma when the time is right, and by that I mean when he loses his 'Feeling the flow' spirit." Dumon and Mizar were able to sense malicious power from the cards Vector was holding, and therefore, they felt certain that Vector knew what he was doing. Knowing they didn't have a lot of options, they decided to give this plot a go.

"Okay, Vector," Dumon declared, "If it means having even a small chance of obtaining the Numbers, you may put your plan into motion. But remember, we have had enough failures from Alito and Girag already, so I will not tolerate another one."

"Yes sir," teased Vector, "Vector, out," and a portal opened behind him and he disappeared into it.

"I do hope he knows what he is doing," said Mizar, getting a nod from Dumon.

It was the middle of the night in Heartland City, and in a newspaper factory, the workers had left for the day and the machine was preparing to print the main headline. Then Vector materialized in his human form by one end of the printing machine, checked to make sure no one was around and took a look at the headline.

"Time to begin phase one of Operation: Yuma's Ultimate Fall," he said, as held out a hand and made the Barian Emblem appear on the headline and started to change what it said. Then he took out the three cards he showed earlier, "and time for you to get to work," and he tossed them out a window, leaving them to fly around and search for someone to possess.

In the Meadow's residence, the Catherine's mansion and the Kaboom's residence, Tori, Cathy and Anna were all sound asleep, when at each location simultaneously, one of the three cards had flew in through the windows and on top of each of the sleeping girls, causing a little glow around each of them before fading out.

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><p>Hmmm. It appears Vector has put together a plan which will end up involving three girls that Yuma knows all too well. ow exactly will this plot of his lower Yuma's spirits. Stay tuned to find out.<p>

Note: I just left the starting gate with this story, so it might take a while. And for those of you canon fans out there, you could imagine that the plot of this story and my previous story take place between episodes 93 and 94 of Zexal. Also, since Yuma and Co. have yet to find out the truth about Rei, it would be best to picture any scenes involving Vector as a human doing Barian related work with his face, along with the other Barians humans faces, hidden in shadows.


	2. A Rumour and Lowered Spirits

When we last left the plot, Vector appeared to be putting a plan in motion that will make Yuma feel down in the dumps as he believes that will make him less of a threat in a duel for his Numbers. Let's rejoin the plot know and see if it plays out the way he wants it to.

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><p>The sun was rising in Heartland city and the day was just getting started. Just like on any other day, middle school students were making their way on to the grounds of Heartland Middle School. Some of them were standing outside exchanging gossip, while others were entering the school corridors to be prepared for the school day ahead of them. Between all of the students as a whole though, a handful of them were holding copies of the most recently printed newspaper and were showing it to a few of their nearby friends. As the students were reading the main headline, there was a mixture of surprise and disbelief to be found in their facial expressions. One would think that such a headline would be the last thing to ever enter the paper.<p>

Within the crowd was a certain group of students who did not have a newspaper with them, but rather they were making their way to the classroom for their first class. The group in question consisted of Yuma, Ray, Bronk, Caswell and Flip. The former two were laughing their heads off at a joke that Yuma was sharing to his friends, while the others simply stared silently at Yuma and Ray in amusement.

"Wait! Wait! It gets better…," said Yuma, trying to catch his breath between laughs, "So then the barber says to the woodcutter, 'Hey, shaving cream and tree flocking, they are not the same thing!'" and with that, Yuma and Ray laughed harder than ever, while the other guys grinned with a sigh.

"Oh ho, you are killing me, Yuma," Ray burst out while trying to calm down, "Perhaps you might have a future as a stand-up comedian."

"I do not know how Yuma does it," said Flip, "But he is always able to keep his spirits up wherever he goes."

"Indeed," continued Caswell, "if there is one thing that will remain for certain, life is never a dull when he is around."

"Not to mention," Bronk said, "whoever is with Yuma, they will never know what kind of excitements or disasters will happen-," but before he could finish by saying 'until it is too late', they had entered their classroom only to jump and be caught off guard by a loud shout.

"YUMA!" the guy turned to the direction in which they heard the shout coming from, and there was their friend Tori, stomping over to where they were standing. She seemed to be holding a copy of the newspaper. From the look on her face, the guys could easily tell that she was not in a happy mood.

"Tori? What's the matter?" inquired Yuma, "We got into the classroom before the bell rang this time."

"Not the point right now!" Tori barked back, "How do you explain this?!" as she said this, she smacked the newspaper right into Yuma's face. The paper fell off Yuma's face to reveal him with swirly eyes. When the paper conveniently fell into his hands, he shook some sense back into himself and took a glance at the paper.

"What are you talking about, Tori?" Yuma asked, "All it says is-," but then stop and went bug-eyed as he looked closely at what he was holding. It was the main headline with a picture of Yuma himself holding the World Duel Carnival trophy to signify the title he won. But the headline above the picture was contradictory to what he wanted to see:

WDC CHAMPION YUMA TSUKUMO: SOLID EVIDENCE OF CHEATING!

The other guys with Yuma caught a glimpse of the headline and were surprised themselves. Then Tori forced the paper down so she could make eye contact Yuma.

"Well?!" asked Tori in a tone that sounded like she wanted answers.

"Well what?" began Yuma, "I never cheated during the WDC! There must be some misunderstanding! I swear I dueled fair and square."

"Oh please," put in Tori, "We all know full well that before the carnival your dueling skills were at the bottom of the barrel, so there is absolutely no way that you could go from dueling zero to dueling hero just like that!"

"But Tori-," Yuma started.

"Don't 'but, Tori' me!" she interrupted again, "I am never friends with cheaters, so I will not talk to you!" then she turned and walked away. Yuma made a few attempts to call her back, but they were in vain. The other guys were at a loss of words from hearing the exchange. They had never recalled Tori acting in such a manner at all.

"Never mind her, Yuma," Ray tried to assure his friend, "from what I've heard, not all news stories tell the legit truth all the time. We know you did not cheat and I am sure others think the same."

"I hope so," said Yuma, still seeming a bit fazed by what happened. Then the bell rang, so the gang got to their seats to prepare for class. As the class progressed, while Yuma tried to pay attention, some students would take a glance at Yuma and then immediately whisper something to a classmate next to them, while Tori, sitting right next to him, would periodically shoot a cold glare at him. Yuma tried his best to avoid looking at Tori, and therefore was unable to notice a faint glow coming from her right hand.

-Lunchtime-

Having completed their morning classes, the five guys had gathered on the rooftop for lunch.

"Strange," said Ray, "Tori and Cathy are nowhere to be seen. Where do you think they're at, Yuma?"

"Well, I'm not sure where Cathy would be, but due to that headline, I think Tori might not want to come near me," he was able to shake some of his morning exchange with her off, but there was still a few things she said that were getting to him.

"Maybe," Caswell spoke up, "but try not to fret too much over that Yuma. Like Ray said earlier, you definitely did not have any cards up your sleeve during the carnival. Besides, many students in the school have grown to know just who Yuma Tsukumo is, so you can be certain that just one little headline can't grow into something big," this helped Yuma regain some of his good spirits.

"You're right, Caswell," Yuma replied, "What happened then was definitely not a big deal. I still feel in good spirits no problem," and his friends agreed with him. However, as the guys were about to continue eating, a figure appeared right from Yuma and scratched him on the cheek.

"OW!" exclaimed Yuma. He turned around and noticed Cathy standing behind him who was just retracting the claws on her hands, "Hey! Cathy? Why did you do that?"

"I think you should know why, Yuma," answered Cathy in an unpleasant tone, "Take a look here and see for yourself," and she tossed a copy of the newspaper in between the guys so they could all read what the part of the paper that was open to them. They could not believe their eyes. It was a continuation of the front headline in the form of an article claiming that an anonymous interviewee had worked undercover during the WDC and claimed that he/she was able to discover that when Yuma used his ZEXAL morph in the finals against Vetrix, it created a blinding light that he/she claimed was a distraction so that Yuma could glimpse at both his and Vetrix's decks and rig them with his bare hands to his favour. Yuma was having trouble speaking over what he was seeing.

"No…please, Cathy not you too!" begged Yuma, "I swear, none of this is true!"

"Don't even try talking yourself out of it!" retorted Cathy, "The newspaper states clearly that any interviews printed are 100% legitimate! I can't believe I became friends with someone as low as you, so I am through being your friend!" then she swerved around instantly and headed for the stairs. Yuma tried to tell her to wait, but with the same success as Tori in the morning. Just as Cathy left the guys site, a small glow came from her neck.

The other guys were silent once more and noticed that Yuma started to look more down than he was before.

-After the final bell-

As the school day came to an end, the guys were exiting the building. While they walked, they could not help but notice most of the students staring at them and then whispering things to each other. The guys could hear some of them clearly and could tell it involved the rumour in the newspaper.

"I can't believe he would stoop that low." "He really is a dueling zero." "To think he of all people would do such horrible things," were what the guys could hear, and deep down, Yuma started to feel as if his 'Feeling the flow' spirit was being drained.

"Don't get down in the dumps, Yuma," said Flip, as they walked across the school grounds, "We still know that you're not a cheater. Those people have no idea what they're saying."

"Flip's right, Yuma," said Bronk, trying to cheer his friend up, "We've got to keep you in high spirits. Say, I know just the thing to cheer you up!" this gave Bronk Yuma's attention, "How about a duel? I know all too well that you would never say no to one," this made Yuma cheer up a little.

"I always enjoy a good duel to get me up and running, so why not?" asked Yuma.

"Now you're talking!" said Bronk ecstatically. But as luck would have it, just as the two long-time friends were preparing their duel disks, a new sound rang out.

"GAH! Look out!" shouted Ray, and the guys turned to see where he was looking. Sure enough, a projectile was headed their way!

"Hit the deck!" exclaimed Flip, and they all jumped out of the way in time to avoid the blast, and just as Yuma was about to get up, he heard a familiar voice.

"There you are!" exclaimed the voice.

"_Oh no,_" Yuma thought. Jumping off her cannon and landing right in front of Yuma, was Anna.

"Time for you to pay up for you crime, Yuma!" shouted Anna as she took aim at Yuma.

"What crime are you talking about?!" questioned Yuma.

"This!" and she tossed the newspaper in front of the guys for them to see another article regarding Yuma cheating. It has stated that yet another anonymous interviewee claimed he/she had caught Yuma peeking in all of the finalists decks, claiming that he had fallen as low as Reginald Kastle. Yuma desperately tried to reason with Anna.

"Anna, please! I never did anything like that!"

"Don't play dumb with me! Any newspaper interview only ever states the truth, and I don't take kindly to cheaters like you!" Just as Anna was preparing to fire, a voice stopped her from doing so.

"Don't even bother with him, Anna. Someone as low as him isn't worth the trouble," everyone present turned to see that Tori was the source of that voice.

"Yeah. Having a ruined image would probably be worse for him than a ruined health status," said a voice next to Tori, which happened to be Cathy. Anna then glared at Yuma causing him to step back.

"Eh, what the heck?" said Anna as she withdrew her weapon, "Those two are right. I shouldn't be wasting my time with an unlikeable cheater like you," and she turned her back and walked away from the scene with a glow on her left hand unbeknownst to the others.

"Yes indeed," finished Tori and Cathy, as they did the same as Anna. Bronk, Caswell, Flip and Ray had their mouths agape at what just happened.

"Okay…," Caswell said breaking the silence, "this sounds like a strange turn of events, and I understand Yuma if you- huh? Yuma?"

As Caswell paused mid-sentence, he and the other guys turned to see Yuma walking away slowly with his head down and making some small sniffling noises.

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><p>Oh dear. Yuma has taken a lot of negative insults to the head and seems to be losing his 'Feeling The Flow' attitude. What else could this turn of events have in store for Yuma? Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out.<p> 


	3. Getting to the Bottom of the Situation

A rumour has been circulating throughout the newspaper that Yuma may have cheated during the WDC. As a result, Tori, Cathy and Anna have unexpectedly come down hard on Yuma, causing him to lose his cheerful spirits. Let's rejoin the plot and see what his friends think of this.

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><p>Yuma was beginning to slowly walk away from the rest of the gang. His head was turned away so the others could not look at him right in the eye, but from seeing his arm moving back and forth across his eyes, they were able to assume that he was starting to tear up and was wiping his eyes. All the guys could do was stare at Yuma with looks of concern. Then Flip spoke up quickly before Yuma got too far away to not hear him.<p>

"Yuma…?" he began slowly, "Are you feeling alright?" though he was certain he knew what the response would be.

"Not…*sniff, sniff*…really," Yuma managed to reply. Those last few words that the girls said about him, particularly 'cheater' and 'unlikeable', were really starting to get to him.

"We definitely do not blame you for letting all those comments we have heard today get to you, especially those last ones," Bronk spoke up, "But I just hope you still have some spirit left in you for a duel."

"N-no thanks," stuttered Yuma, surprising his friend, "I think I need to go home and t-try to shake the day off. I'm not in a d-duel mood anymore," although they were alarmed at what they heard, the guys understood that Yuma would probably need some alone time to try and avoid anyone else who read the headline featuring him.

"Okay, Yuma. See you later," said Caswell, still sounding worried for Yuma. And with that, the winner of the WDC walked slowly away while starting to tear up a little more.

As soon as Yuma left, the gang turned to look at each other and Caswell spoke up again, "Okay, something is not right here. We have known Yuma for a long time now and know for certain that he would never dare cheat in a tournament."

"Right you are, Caswell," continued Flip, "and it does not seem to make sense for such a headline to be made weeks after Yuma was confirmed to be the champion. A story regarding cheating sometimes hits the paper right after the event it occurs in."

"Not to mention," said Bronk, "Tori and Cathy, who we are friends with, are acting _different_ from their usual selves. As for that red haired girl who tried to shoot us with that flying cannon, I can't recall how she ended up knowing Yuma."

"Oh, I think I know," put in Ray, "Her name is Anna. I first saw her at the recent school festival. She threatened to take aim at Yuma if he refused to be her partner in the Couples Duel Tournament that occurred that day. Other than that, they appeared to get along quite well."

"I see," said Caswell, "so what we have in front of us right now is a newspaper with an unexpected headline and three girls in particular who know Yuma, but are suddenly acting more negative towards him than usual. Anybody able to make a conclusion out of that?" the guys thought for a brief moment about how these events could possibly come to be. Then a light bulb appeared above Ray's head which made the other guys turn towards him.

"Do any of you think that a Number card might be behind this?" question Ray, "As if it not only shifted its targets personality, but maybe also encouraged them to fiddle with the newspaper headline as a means for being able to dampen Yuma's spirits?" all four guys immediately became serious over this assumption.

"It sounds like the only possible explanation," replied Flip, "but would it be possible for just one Number to somehow affect three minds and a headline?"

"Well," said Bronk, "like I said this morning, if there is one thing I have learned from being Yuma's friend, you never know what wacky things could happen."

"Indeed," said Caswell, "and as members of the Super Secret Numbers Investigation Club, we should do something about this at once."

"Right," Ray announced, "how about I go look into seeing who wrote the newspaper story and have a little talk with him, while you three each go after one of the girls that went off on Yuma and see which one is holding a Number, if any? Sound like a plan?" the others were a little confused at this suggestion.

"You really think you will be able to do something about the newspaper?" Flip asked.

"Don't worry," replied Ray, "I have a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Well, that plan is all we have to go on. Might as well give it a shot," finished Bronk.

"Okay!" said the four guys in unison, "Let's go!" and with that, Bronk, Caswell, Flip and Ray each went off in a different direction.

Back in the Barian World, the rainfall had ceased, and in the throne room, Vector emerged from a portal. He was chuckling to himself because he knew that his plan was progressing the way he wanted it to.

"Now that Yuma is at his worst," he began, "I just need to have him regroup with those three Number-possessed girls so he can hitch a ride on the Downfall express to Loserville."

"Vector!" shouted a nearby voice. Vector turned to see Dumon and Mizar approaching, as they coincidentally happened to be standing not too far away from him.

"Well hello there, comrades," greeted Vector sounding a little more pleasant than usual due to the plot he was creating, "what's the good word?"

"I think we should be asking _you_ that," responded Dumon, "We were just passing by the room when we heard you chuckling happily. Can we assume that this plot of yours is going well?"

"Oh, it is not going well," answered Vector, "It is going better than I had ever expected."

"Really?" questioned Mizar, "If that is true, please prove it to us."

"With pleasure," finished Vector, and he held out a hand which lifted up a nearby crystal which the Barian's used to view events occurring on Earth. He brought it up close and then used his Barian powers to make the crystal view what Yuma was doing at the moment, "and here we are," the crystal glowed briefly before showing Yuma's whereabouts. Right now, he was sitting on a couch at home, with his sister Kari next to him and his grandma Haru in an armchair across from him. Yuma, while being teary eyed, was trying to explain what had happened at school, while Kari and Haru made attempts to comfort him. Dumon and Mizar were surprised at how depressed Yuma appeared to be.

"Unbelievable," gasped Dumon, "I remember you saying you would use a rumour in part of your plot revolving around the WDC. If you don't mind me asking, just what rumour did you make?" Vector then proceeded to explain how he used his Barian power to alter a newspaper headline to make it include a story of how Yuma was being accused of cheating in the WDC.

"And people are buying it?" asked Mizar.

"Indeed they are," replied Vector, "Well, it is mainly thanks to the power I had placed in the newspaper. With it, anyone who reads it believes it. Many people have read it already and have murmured many negative comments towards Yuma which ended up bringing his spirits down. And the three humans I had given Numbers to have thrown even harsher comments at him, increasing the effect tenfold!" and with that, Vector started to laugh like a madman.

"Save the laughter for later, Vector!" exclaimed Mizar, making Vector stop abruptly, "It is clear that you have not yet completed your plot in full yet. What is it you will do next?

"Be patient, Mizar," replied Vector, "Now that it is more likely that Yuma will be more unsuccessful in a duel, I simply need to find a means of getting him to duel the humans I gave Numbers to so we can secure them for ourselves," and he returned his attention to the viewing screen and used it to take quick glances of the Numbers locations. Every time Vector viewed Tori, Cathy or Anna with Number in possession, he noticed that one of Yuma's friends was following behind each of them, "Hmm…said duel might be happening sooner than I thought."

"And just why exactly would that be the case?" asked Dumon, making Vector turn around to face his fellow Barians.

"No time to explain," Vector responded, "I must return to the Human world at once to begin Yuma's Ultimate Fall: Phase Two. I will notify you when things are about to get interesting. Cheers." And with that, a portal appeared behind Vector as he departed for Earth once more.

"Vector, hold on!" shouted Mizar, but Vector was already out and away. Mizar sighed and he turned to Dumon, "Remind me again why we agreed to have Vector get involved."

"Last resort," was all Dumon answered with.

"Oh yes, I remember now."

As the sun was setting on another day, Tori was strolling through Heartland City minding her own business, blissfully unaware of a follower close behind. Bronk was following a few feet behind Tori, trying to see if he could make out any glowing marks to prove that Tori was being possessed by a Number, but with no luck.

"Maybe Tori is not the one with the Number we are looking for," Bronk said to himself, "Might as well signal the others and see if they are having any luck," but as he pulled out his D-Gazer to contact the other guys, he noticed that Tori had suddenly stopped dead in her tracks with hers arms simply placed on either side. And because they were, Bronk was able to make out a green glowing number on her right hand. Surprised by his discovery, he quickly slipped behind a nearby tree and contacted Caswell straight away.

Caswell was hiding behind a brick wall while pursuing Cathy, when he noticed Cathy suddenly stood motionless while an orange glow came from her neck. Then his D-Gazer rang. Noticing the caller ID as Bronk, he picked it up and kept his voice to a minimum.

"Hey Bronk," began Caswell, "Good thing you called me. Guess what I just found."

"Not now, Caswell," interrupted Bronk, "I have just confirmed that Tori's under a Number's influence," this took Caswell by surprise.

"Huh?" questioned Caswell, "That can't be right. I see a Number's glow coming from Cathy," now Bronk was surprised.

"You sure?" asked Bronk as he checked Tori again just to be safe, and Caswell did the same. Sure enough, they both saw a glow from their respective targets.

"I'm sure," replied Caswell.

"But _I_ saw a number mark too," Bronk claimed, "You think multiple numbers might be involved in this situation?" But before Caswell could speak, another ring occurred on his D-Gazer.

"Flip's trying to contact me, Bronk. I'll add him to our discussion so we can review the situation to him," said Caswell as he used his D-Gazer to have Flip join in, "Hey Flip. Bronk is connected to this call as well, and we have just confirmed that both Tori and Cathy have a Number."

"What?!" gasped Flip as he was caught off guard, "There are two _more_ Numbers involved?"

"Huh? What do you mean 'there are two more Numbers involved?'" asked Bronk and Caswell together.

"I just caught sight of Anna with a glow coming from her left hand," answered Flip who was looking at the purple glow in question, "she has a Number too!"

"No way!" exclaimed Bronk, "So there are _three_ Numbers in this scenario?"

"It seems so," replied Flip, "We have got a triple threat on our hands!"

"We've got to do something quick!" declared Caswell. But before they could go any further, the guys each had a rope made of red energy latch onto their arms simultaneously. They each turned to notice that the girls they were following were the source of this.

"If you want to get out of this jam," said Tori loud enough so that all six members of the conversation could hear, "Listen carefully."

* * *

><p>Uh oh. Yuma's friends have been caught by the now confirmed Number possessed girls. How will they get out of this jam, and will Yuma be up to the challenge to secure them? Stay tune for Chapter 4.<p> 


End file.
